Mopti Medical Center

This medical complex consists of two clinics, one of which is a maternity centre, and a 70-bed hospital. Its design and construction respect Mopti's great mud brick mosque nearby and the low-scaled mud structures of the town. The walls and part of the roof structure are of traditional banco construction using a mixture of local grey clay stabilised with concrete. Surfaces are finished with a smooth cement coating. Window openings are provided with metal shutters shaded by brise-soleils and deep overhangs. Heights of rooms vary to provide clerestory vents which ensure a flow of air through the clinics and wards. The latter surround a private courtyard. The galleries adjoining this enclosure invite use for cooking and sleeping by the patients' families accustomed by tradition to staying nearby and preparing food for them. The jury commended the builders of this centre "for creating a medical complex which responds with great sympathy both to the culture and to the sensitive surroundings. The design takes into account local traditions and practices, and makes effective use of available materials and techniques of construction. The imaginative relationship of public to private spaces within the complex is not only successful in use, but helps to integrate the building into the existing urban fabric."